Pak, Afghan diplomats in U.S. for 'rethink'

The top diplomats of Pakistan and Afghanistan were opening talks in Washington Tuesday as US senators called for a rethink on billions of dollars sent to Islamabad for the "war on terror." The talks come as part of a reassessment of US strategy by President Barack Obama, who plans to deploy another 17,000 US troops to Afghanistan and to put further focus on fighting extremism in Pakistan. The foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan -- which have often been at loggerheads over the conflict -- will meet Tuesday ahead of a three-way session Thursday with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton "looks forward to meeting with both ministers, hearing their views, and of course sharing our views on what we believe is going on, on the ground," State Department spokesman Robert Woods said.